


Sometimes, He was Great

by mckinlily



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2018-01-06 22:53:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1112466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mckinlily/pseuds/mckinlily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A prank gone wrong has left the Marauders shattered, and there's only one person who can put them back together. Oneshot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sometimes, He was Great

The group of overstuffed armchairs just to the side of the fireplace in the Gryffindor Common Room was unofficially Marauder territory, but at the moment it had only one occupant. James Potter was slumped down in his seat so much that his neck was almost perpendicular to his chest and his legs sprawled out from him like lanky, over-cooked noodles. For him to be unhappy and lethargic like this – not to mention completely alone – was highly unusual.

            “You know, you and Black fighting might be one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen.”

            So unusual that is attracted the attention of Lily Evans.

            She was perched on the armrest of the loveseat just beside James’s armchair. Her expression as she studied him was not quite friendly but much less hostile than it normally was around him lately. She swung her legs a little as she adjusted the ties on her dressing robe.

            Normally, the sight of his crush talking to him, _willingly_ talking to him, and not just to tell him off for some prank he’d pulled, would have had James up in an instant. But after today, not even the beauty of Hogwarts’ prettiest (and most stubborn) fifth year could get to him now. He merely grunted and went back to glaring at the mismatched lengths of the laces on his trainers.

            “I mean,” continued Lily, apparently not needing his input, “most people _avoid_ each other when they have a row, but not you two. You’re inseparable, just the same as always, but you won’t talk to each other, you hardly even look at each other, you’re just intent on making this great cloud of unhappiness hover over you. It’s like you want to make it perfectly clear you’re _not_ talking, but you can’t leave each other alone either.”

            “And your point is?” grunted James when it became clear she wasn’t saying anything else.

            “You should make up with Black.”

            James yelped. “Me?! It’s Padfoot’s fault! He’s the one who did it!”

            “Well,” said Lily, titling her head to one side, lips pursed, “did he apologize?”

            James snorted, thinking of Sirius’s shouts of “I’m sorry, all right! Give me a break!” and thinking they hardly counted as an apology.

            “See,” said Lily, clearly misinterpreting the signs. “Now it’s your turn to forgive him.”

            “What right do you have to tell me what to do?” snapped James. He pulled himself up a little straighter in his chair, glaring at her. “You don’t even know what happened!”

            “I know…” began Lily.

            “No, you don’t!” shouted James. “You don’t know! No one does!”

            Lily bit her lip. Neither one of them spoke for a moment.

            “I know everyone’s really miserable like this,” she whispered softly.

            James “hmph”ed and didn’t look at her.

            “Remus and Petergriew – I know they’re really unhappy. I think they want to forgive Black for…whatever he did. But they can’t without you.”

            “Moony and Wormtail are free to do whatever they want.”

            “Do you really think it’s going work out like that?”

            James couldn’t quite read Lily’s expression, and he wasn’t sure he liked it. Something about it made him feel vaguely uncomfortable.

            “Some things… Some things you can’t just say sorry for,” he said.

            “And you’re sure you can’t forgive them?” said Lily.

            James wasn’t quite sure what to say, and finally, he settled for groaning. “What do you even care? You don’t even like us anyway.”

            Lily sniffed and stiffened. “I just don’t like all of you moping about all the time, pulling down the whole castle.”

            “It’s been like a week,” said James.

            “It’s been two days,” corrected Lily.

            “Well then, there it is. It’s been two days. What do you care then?”

            “I’m cutting this off early,” said Lily. “Before it spreads like some nasty plague.”

            “We are not starting a plague.”

            “Hmph,” said Lily. She slipped off her perch on the armrest with her nose a little in the air, an irritating habit of hers that still wasn’t enough to put James off her. Straight-backed, nose still up, she strode away. But when she was half-way across the room, she turned around and pointed a stern finger at him. “Put your mates back together, James Potter.” And then she left.

            James slumped back in his chair, scowling. He tried to study his scuffed trainers again, but soon gave up and headed to bed.

            He was not happy. He hadn’t been happy since three nights ago when Sirius had told him he had given Snape the secret to finding Remus transforming and he had had to save the slimy git. None of them were happy. Sirius constantly had that dark, nasty expression on his face that he normally reserved just for family. Remus was shy and skittish as he hadn’t been since second year when he had been afraid they were going to turn him in for being a werewolf. And hurt as well. And Peter… Peter just didn’t seem to know what to do. He was chewing his nails more than ever now, making him seem like some scared little girl.

            And all this was his fault – according to Lily Evans.

            What did she know? _He_ hadn’t done anything wrong! _He_ knew better than to pull a prank that might get someone killed – _even_ Snivellus. _He_ would never consider using a friend as a tool. He had even risked his own skin to put it right! It was Sirius who was in the wrong, and there were some things that just weren’t forgivable, even for friends. What did she know? She was _friends_ with Snape, the git. She was just some obnoxious, self-righteous girl, who was a teacher’s pet and thought she knew everything. She knew _nothing._

            Did she even know _he_ was unhappy? James flopped onto his bed in the uncharacteristically silent dorm. Did she even realize this was hurting him too? He _missed_ Sirius. He missed him so much that it ached. Even with Sirius right there, it ached. All those times laughing, getting in detention, barely escaping getting expelled – But didn’t she see? He _couldn’t_ forgive him. Because Sirius had done the unthinkable. He’d hurt Remus. Used him. And he’d nearly gotten someone killed. He’d crossed a line, and there was no way to make up for it.

            Besides, James was hurt. He felt betrayed. It wasn’t fair – because Remus was so much more betrayed than he was – but his friends weren’t supposed to do this. Sirius had run away from home. He wasn’t supposed to end up like _them._

            And yet, James kept seeing Sirius’s white face as he was yelling at him.

_“But I didn’t mean it like that! I wasn’t thinking that!”_

_Then what were you thinking, Padfoot? Couldn’t you see what you were doing was wrong?_

            And now, there was nothing Sirius could do to make up for it. There was no way for him to deserve forgiveness. It was simple as that.

            The dormitory was silent, and it was barely ten o’clock. Lily said Remus and Peter wanted to forgive Sirius, and James knew in his heart she was right. They were broken like this. All of them. They wanted this fixed. _He_ wanted this fixed. And yet… Sirius didn’t deserve it.

            James considered it critically. There was not way Sirius could ever earn forgiveness. That was certain. He couldn’t even make things right. But could James forgive him anyway? James was still hurt, angry, bitter ⎯ and _James_ could chose to lay those feeling aside.

            “Sirius?” he whispered.

            And, after a moment of silence, “Sirius?”

            Then, “Padfoo--?”

            The hanging of the bed beside him ripped open. “What do you want, Prongs?” shouted Sirius. “What do you want? Because I’m sorry! You know I’m sorry, but I can’t change any of it, all right! I messed up, I’m screwed up, and I’m sorry! But if you can’t get that through your thick head, then I’m not going to say it any more!”

            “Pad --” but Sirius wasn’t finished.

            “I thought we were like family! I thought that meant you were there for me no matter how badly I screwed up! Not – Not like --” Sirius turned away. He yanked at his hangings --

            But before he could close them, James caught them and forced them open. “We are,” he said. “Like family. Brothers.”

            James grabbed Sirius around the head and gave him the tightest, firmest hug he could manage. He felt Sirius shaking, but he pretended he didn’t notice. “And brothers don’t just let each other go,” he said.

            Sirius pulled away, shaking his head. “Prongs, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it. I wasn’t thinking. I --”

            “It’s fine,” said James. And he meant it. He kept his arm around Sirius and squeezed hard. “It’s over, and it’s fine. It’s not my problem anyway,” he added.

            “Yeah,” gulped Sirius. Burying his face in his hand, he groaned. “Moony’s never going to forgive me.”

            “Yes, he will,” promised James. “You’ll see. He will. We’re the Marauders. We stick together through anything. _I’ll_ make sure we stick together.” He thumped Sirius on the back. “No matter how badly you screw up.”

            For the first time in days, Sirius smiled.

            The dormitory seemed to let out a collective breath. Because at times, James Potter might be an arrogant, thoughtless prat.

            But sometimes, he was great.


End file.
